Fiberglass pipe is used in the oil field for handling corrosive liquids and must be joined together by a coupling member. The coupling member has a tapered female socket at each end for receiving a complementary tapered end of a length of fiberglass pipe. The lengths of pipe are received from the manufacturer with only one end tapered complementary respective to the taper of the coupled and therefore, the opposed end must be cut to the appropriate length, tapered, and then cemented or epoxied into the pipe coupling. The apparatus of the present invention provides a means by which the cut end of the pipe joint can be manually tapered complementary respective to the factory coupling.
Numerous devices for providing a taper on the end of fiberglass and plastic pipe have been disclosed by the prior art as evidenced by the references cited herein. The present disclosure relates to apparatus for tapering the outer surface of the marginal end of fiberglass or plastic tubing and pipe. The taper is in the form of a frustum of a cone and provides a circumferentially extending surface at the marginal end of the pipe made complementary respective to the taper found on a common female socket or coupling member that is to be attached to the tubing or pipe. The pipe and coupling member are usually cemented together and it is therefore desirable that the male tapered surface at the marginal end of the pipe be of a configuration that enables the entire tapered surface thereof to be received by the entire complementary female tapered surface of the fixture.
It would furthermore be desirable that such as apparatus be adjustable to thereby enable a wide range of different diameters of pipe to be suitably tapered and it would particularly be desirable that the adjustment be easily and simply carried out without the necessity of using complicated tools and the like. Apparatus which achieves the above desirable attributes is the subject of the present invention.